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Ed Miliband has pledged that a Labour government will take action to make the private rented sector more affordable and secure. We know this matters to the people of Crouch End. You need only walk down Park Road or Ferme Park Road and see the endless to let signs as more homes become unaffordable for people living in Crouch End.

In 2001 31% of people living in Crouch End were living in home rented from private landlords. By 2011 this figure had gone up to 37.3%. The private rented sector in London has become more and more expensive during a period in which real wages are stagnating. This is just one part of what Ed Miliband calls the cost of living crisis.

The cost of renting in London has shot up at a time when wage growth is stagnating

Labour’s plans include banning letting agents from charging tenants any fees, bringing in three year tenancies as the standard in the private rented sector and guaranteeing predictable rents to limit excessive rises to stop tenants being ripped off.

One of the reasons that renting is becoming increasingly unaffordable is because not enough homes are built in England. That’s why Haringey Labour’s manifesto is pledging to building 1,000 new affordable homes including 250 council homes. But that’s not all. Haringey Labour’s positive vision for the borough includes improving existing council homes despite huge Lib Dem and Conservative central government cuts to the council budget. Haringey Labour also intends to do more to support tenants who suffer under rogue landlords by setting up a landlords’ register. Finally Haringey Labour will make sure that new housing schemes provide jobs and apprenticeships for local people.

Haringey Labour will build 1,000 new affordable homes in the borough if elected

This is all part of Haringey Labour’s vision to ease the cost of living and improve life in this borough. We can make a positive difference to the people of Crouch End with our plans for the local council and Labour’s plans for national government.

Today George Osborne delivered the Autumn Statement.While millions in this country face an unprecedented squeeze on living standards, Osborne was claiming to have fixed the economy. The local Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone took to Twitter to make clear that when it comes to the Tories’ record on the economy the Liberal Democrats are ‘equally responsible’.

Lynne Featherstone makes clear that the Liberal Democrats are as much to blame as the Tories for the cost of living crisis

Here are some of the facts on the economic record that the Liberal Democrats are ‘equally responsible’ for.

The challenge facing the economy is huge and the Tories have nothing to say about increasing living standards for ordinary people. But in Crouch End we’d do well to remember – it’s not just the Tories.

One of the most common things that we’ve heard on the doorstep from Crouch End residents in the last few months is that it’s great to see Labour out so often in the area. Crouch End residents must have been over the moon to see the leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband come to the Broadway last weekend.

Despite the pouring rain Ed Miliband talked to a big crowd outside of the Town Hall in Crouch End about why he’s standing up to the energy companies. While wholesale prices paid by energy companies have gone up by 1.7% in the last year, the companies have put prices of household energy bills up around 10%. This at a time when wages have been going up much slower than prices across the whole economy.

For 39 of the 40 months since the Lib Dems put the Conservatives in government prices have risen faster than wages

Ed Miliband won’t be in Crouch End every weekend but local Labour candidates Jason, Lourdes and Natan will. Crouch End Labour will working hard to get the message across – as people across the country face hard times Labour has to do all it can to help ease the strain. That’s why Haringey Labour has frozen council tax for another year. But more can be done and will have to be if Labour are to help people through tough times. In the coming weeks and months Haringey Labour will be laying out spending plans and the manifesto for the local elections in May 2014 to show that Labour are standing up for people in tough times.

Ed Miliband poses with Hornsey and Wood Green candidate Catherine West as well as Crouch End Labour council candidates Lourdes, Natan and Jason